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After Receiving excellent advice in another forum thought i would give this a try regarding this issue
Today received an email detailing my late mothers estate, To say in the least the whole episode has been truly contentious
A brief outline
Mum got ill in 2019 and had got her affairs in order before she passed, made a will some years before with her solicitor at which i was present, this didnt really include my eldest sister for reasons that mum had not settled long standing issues with sis, however in her last months i managed to get mum and sis to put things behind them and so mum needed to rewrite the will, she was now getting quite frail so we arranged a date and time for Gary, her solicitor to visit her home, on the day in question mum asked me to be present, when door knocked i was surprised as to not see Gary as we had asked for him, i was then told he no longer works for us, so i asked since when, they said a couple of months, so i asked why we wer not informed when requesting a visit, not company policy and we can carry out your mums wishes.......
I wasnt really happy with this and suggested to mum i track gary down but she said it was ok,
the solicitor at mums made numerous suggestions to mum that she make them executors but mum insisted NO two eldest brothers would be....the meeting went on and amendments were noted and they left saying they would be in touch for her to sign in a few days..
Mum passed and solicitor called us in, read the will , to all our surprise he, the visiting solicitor (owner of company) was sole excecutor, He then flicked the will in front of me and stated 'I was surprised how well your mum was' which looking back was his way of saying she was of sound mind, we know this wasnt the case as she had been telling us she had been to see her sister in canada a few days before the amendments, We all left in shock as mum had spoken to us all about executors, she even gave me her hand written draft,which was identical to one read out except for the change of executor but i could not get my 2 brothers and 1 sister to stand together and challenge this and ask them to step down as they were worried he would use mums money to counter challenge
OK 18 months later and their admin fees are £28k+ on a standard estate, little money and mums home at a total value of approx £165K
Have been advised to seek a contentious probate solicitor but struggle to find one locally.
Our dilemma now is we have been emailed the estate final account and they are asking us to sign and approve before they pay out?
there has been no break down of fees as yet, i have had some advice and know that as a beneficiary i am entitled to a breakdown,
So Can i sign to get paid out and then dispute the fee? or will signing say i am agreeing to the fee, I feel if i dispute now they with further diminish the estate accounts
HELP!
Today received an email detailing my late mothers estate, To say in the least the whole episode has been truly contentious
A brief outline
Mum got ill in 2019 and had got her affairs in order before she passed, made a will some years before with her solicitor at which i was present, this didnt really include my eldest sister for reasons that mum had not settled long standing issues with sis, however in her last months i managed to get mum and sis to put things behind them and so mum needed to rewrite the will, she was now getting quite frail so we arranged a date and time for Gary, her solicitor to visit her home, on the day in question mum asked me to be present, when door knocked i was surprised as to not see Gary as we had asked for him, i was then told he no longer works for us, so i asked since when, they said a couple of months, so i asked why we wer not informed when requesting a visit, not company policy and we can carry out your mums wishes.......
I wasnt really happy with this and suggested to mum i track gary down but she said it was ok,
the solicitor at mums made numerous suggestions to mum that she make them executors but mum insisted NO two eldest brothers would be....the meeting went on and amendments were noted and they left saying they would be in touch for her to sign in a few days..
Mum passed and solicitor called us in, read the will , to all our surprise he, the visiting solicitor (owner of company) was sole excecutor, He then flicked the will in front of me and stated 'I was surprised how well your mum was' which looking back was his way of saying she was of sound mind, we know this wasnt the case as she had been telling us she had been to see her sister in canada a few days before the amendments, We all left in shock as mum had spoken to us all about executors, she even gave me her hand written draft,which was identical to one read out except for the change of executor but i could not get my 2 brothers and 1 sister to stand together and challenge this and ask them to step down as they were worried he would use mums money to counter challenge
OK 18 months later and their admin fees are £28k+ on a standard estate, little money and mums home at a total value of approx £165K
Have been advised to seek a contentious probate solicitor but struggle to find one locally.
Our dilemma now is we have been emailed the estate final account and they are asking us to sign and approve before they pay out?
there has been no break down of fees as yet, i have had some advice and know that as a beneficiary i am entitled to a breakdown,
So Can i sign to get paid out and then dispute the fee? or will signing say i am agreeing to the fee, I feel if i dispute now they with further diminish the estate accounts
HELP!
